In my Google News feed this morning, an article from an Illinois paper caught my eye: "How to choose a church -- Four suggestions for seekers." The piece is written by an outreach pastor and is apparently part of a recurring "Clergy Views" series.
Here are the pastor's criteria—in condensed form—for a church worth plugging into:
- Integrity. "I would stay away from any church whose members claim to be perfect, just as I would stay away from a church where people's lives are not regularly being changed by the power of Jesus Christ."
- Doctrine. "What they believe will determine what kind of church they are."
- Friendliness. "If in a couple weeks, no one has made any effort to become your friend, move on."
- The right fit. "Churches are like blue jeans. Some fit some kinds of people, others don't. You have to find the kind that fits you."
To begin with, I'm always intrigued by the interplay of religion and media, especially in smaller outlets, where there is more freedom for a town's cultural values to be expressed. Of course this article doesn't represent the faith opinions of the newspaper's editorial staff, but I'm sure a lot of publications would prefer not to run a piece like this at all. How to choose a church? Who cares?
Regarding the article itself, I really like the idea of trying to give people a good framework for choosing a church. I'd bet that even many life-long Christians aren't aware of the criteria they use. In our churches, we should be telling visitors not just how much we'd like to have them, but also what they should value in whichever church they choose.
To the suggestions above, I would add the mantra "Don't date the church." Be discerning, but also be decisive. What would you add or subtract from the list of criteria?
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In our churches, we should be telling visitors not just how much we'd like to have them, but also what they should value in whichever church they choose.
Uhh.. we should be telling visitors what they should do and how they should pick a church?
Isn't that more than a bit presumptuous?
Posted by: brgulker | May 29, 2009 1:25 PM
I don't think it has to be presumptuous. You can just say, "This [insert characteristics] is what we think a church looks like when it's on the right track. We'd encourage you to pursue those qualities for whatever congregation you end up calling home." Ideally, you'll show the visitor that you care more about getting them in a place that's good for them than you do about growing your particular church.
Posted by: Tim | May 29, 2009 7:19 PM
A very helpful tip I was given by a senior pastor encouraging students to pick a godly, biblical, bible-teaching church was this: "find a church where you can comfortable take your unbelieving friends where they can hear the gospel"
Posted by: John Ross | June 2, 2009 10:51 AM
I agree whole heartedly with John Ross. I've sat in Sunday School classes where the discussion, judgementalism, unloving attitudes toward other denominations they really didn't understand were an embarrassment. After many years of overlooking we finally left that movement, although we agree with much of their position.
Posted by: Nancy | June 4, 2009 9:23 AM